IS: Ragnarok
by Tawnis
Summary: Five(ish) years have passed since the events of the IS Anime. Charlotte and Laura have become teachers at the IS Academy while Ichika and company are taking part in the World IS Championships. Yet darkness stirs beneath the surface: A mysterious man connected to Chifuyu's past arrives at the Academy with a dire warning, and everything is not as it seems at the Championships either.
1. Chapter 1 A Long Time Coming

**Chapter I – A Long Time Coming:**

The sea's cooling breeze gently caressed Aaron's face as the ship he was on pulled into port and prepared their small group of passengers for disembarkation. Even over the buildings and further treeline, he could see the spires of the IS Academy as well as the monorail system that came in from the mainland.

Arron preferred the boat, there was something almost sadly poetic to having the fate of a land in your hands from the moment you step off a boat. Perhaps Columbus felt the same way when setting foot in the America for the first time? Hopefully he wouldn't herald quite so much change for the people here; it was doubtful though, things were spiralling out of control so fast.

Still, after so long, it felt good to finally see the Academy up close.

A small hiss sounded and a ramp extended down to the dock. "All ashore that's going ashore!" The captain called. Arron hoisted his duffel bag and took the last look of the Academy as a true outsider; with any luck no one was going to get hurt.

Only a few people debarked with him, likely students returning from visiting relatives on the mainland. They all moved along to a nearby kiosk where their luggage was being scanned by a young woman with a surprisingly large purple bow in her long black hair. She barely made eye contact, instead looking down at a screen showing some kind of event as she pushed through everyone's items. Arron guessed she was likely a part timer by her level of attentiveness. He was the last of the group to be put through and she briefly looked up to acknowledge him. "Please place all items in the scanner." The young woman said absently.

Aaron pulled a badge from his pocket instead and showed it to the woman.

"Oh, sorry sir!" she exclaimed, finally paying attention. "I had no idea you were a member of the oversight committee."

"Not technically," Arron replied "I'm just their representative. Would you happen to know where I can locate Chifuyu Orimura?"

"There is an IS tournament taking place today in the main arena, Miss Orimura always attends. Would you like me to let her know you're coming?"

"No, that won't be necessary." a slight grin crept onto Aaron's face "She's going to berate me enough without giving her time to prepare. Thank you for your help miss..."

"Himegami, Mei Himegami."

"Thank you for your help Miss Himegami, have a nice day."

"You too" she replied earnestly. "Enjoy your stay."

Aaron had a feeling that his level of enjoyment was going to be directly dependant on how good of a mood Chifuyu was in toady.

* * *

><p>Charlotte and Laura sat side by side in the stands as the tournament finalists prepared to square off. Now both teachers at the Academy, when students from their classes competed it almost felt like they were competing themselves.<p>

"I can assure you that Shizuka's tactics will outweigh any equipment advantage you think Ramona might have." After nearly five years at the Academy Charlotte's once thick French accent had faded to only a slight, albeit still noticeable one.

"Nein, you're protege does not have the will for a sustained fight; and this will not be a quick victory," Though she had been at the Academy just as long, Laura prided herself on maintaining her thick German accent.

"Perhaps a friendly wager then?" Charlotte offered.

"Interesting, what do you propose?"

"If Shizuka wins, you have to grade my class' assignments for me for the next two weeks."

"Agreed, but it will you how will be taking on extra work, when Ramona outlasts your protege's parlour tricks."

"You know you're not allowed to place wagers on the students." Neither of them had heard Chifuyu enter the viewing box.

"It's just a little bet, care for a piece of the action?" Charlotte offered.

"Nether of you could handle my workload." Chifuyu smiled ever so slightly "but if I was to place a bet, I'd put my money on Shizuka."

"How could you say that Mentor?" Laura demanded "You have seen all the previous rounds, Ramona won each of them by a much greater margin."

"Perhaps, but I think this match is going to teach you and her a valuable tactical lesson."

Laura was about to reply when a siren went off signalling the combatants to ready themselves. A moment later Miss Yamada's voice came over the arena intercom. "Ladies, this is the moment you've all been waiting for, the championship match between Spain's representative contender Ramona Cruz piloting her personal IS the Dragon Turtle..."

At the mention of her name Ramona took off from the Arena floor. She had fair skin and short brown hair that could fall freely without getting in her eyes. Dragon Turtle looked more turtle than dragon; her entire front was plated in light green overlapping armour and her hands looked like claws, each with a red orb in the palm. Floating just off her back was a large plated shield and from a distance, it looked like she carried no weapons.

"and Japan's representative contender Shizuka Himegami and her personal IS the Ninjutsu!"

Now Shizuka joined her opponent in the air. She was short with black pigtails and both her looks and spunk reminded Charlotte more that a little bit of her friend Rin, despite the differences in their places of birth. The Ninjutsu was almost all black and had light armour platting along the arms and legs. Otherwise the unit had little defences to speak of and a hood that covered Shizuka's face; with the exception of the pigtails that poked out the front. In each hand she held a Kusarigama; a weapon akin to a sickle on a chain.

Ramona smiled as her opponent approached. "Don't expect me to go easy on you, I will become become the years IS champion and prove myself to Mentor Bodewig."

Shizuka laughed, "Well, you better not count me out just yet; our teachers were in the same IS unit after all their skill levels are relatively the same. I've learned a thing or two myself."

"Then it's time to put your money where you mouth is!" Ramona retorted.

Another buzzer sounded throughout the arena, followed immediately by Miss Yamada yelling "Begin!"

* * *

><p><strong>So that's Chapter I, thank you all for reading. :) Chapter II will be up in 1-2 weeks but Chapter III won't be out until sometime in December. (Once Season 2 is released in dub so I can watch it and adjust anything I need to accordingly). <strong>

**Please let me know what you think constructive criticism is always welcome. **


	2. Chapter 2 The Next Generation

**Chapter II – The Next Generation:**

Shizuka made the first move. Dashing forward in a blur, she whipped her Kusarigamas by their chains and brought them down towards Ramona's head.

Ramona was ready for the attack however. With a slight gesture, the shield on her back split in two and came around her sides, joining back together in front of her to block the attack. When the Kusarigamas connected with the shield, the orbs in her palms glowed for a moment. Ramona punched forward trying to bash Shizuka with her shield, but there was no one there.

With a brief boost Shizuka had flipped up and over her opponent. Ramona wasn't having any of it though, she flew forward while spinning to face Shizuka; her shield moving independently had already come around to block the incoming attack. The Kusarigamas struck her shield and once again the orbs in her hands glowed. Just as a smile began to form on Ramona's face, an explosion from behind sent her sprawling.

"See," Charlotte remarked "even the Dragon Turtle's shield cannot cover all angles at once."

"Landing the first hit is not important," Laura retorted "only the last matters."

Ramona hit the ground hard and her shield indicator dropped to 522/600. She was on the move in an instant, just as a Kusarigama sliced the air where she had been a moment before. The Ninjutsu had so many more attack variations than an average IS, Ramona knew she couldn't afford to miss anything in a fight like this. She swerved left, barely avoiding another tiny explosive that had been set in her path. They may have been small but they packed a major punch.

Her HUD lit up signalling that Shizuka had a target lock. Her shield swung around just in time to stop dozens of tiny Shuriken-like energy projectiles. Ramona's hands lit up again for a brief moment but as soon as the shield was up the attack stopped and Shizuka was on the move again; she was too smart to pound away uselessly on Ramona's shield.

The Dragon Turtle was a defensive based early fourth generation IS unit; its shield was nearly impregnable, but it sacrificed offensive capability for that safety. To compensate the IS redirected the energy of the incoming attacks to an outlet on each hand. While they would charge slowly on their own, blocking attacks sped up the process greatly.

Ramona got a lock on Shizuka while she was still repositioning and knew it was time to strike back. Her shield split into two smaller shields and with a swing, she threw one like a giant discus. Shizuka saw it coming however and set off several smoke bombs in front of her. The target lock was lost and Ramona's shield sailed through without making contact.

Shizuka flew from the smoke the second the shield missed. With both Kusarigama's held tight by the handles instead of the chains, she maximized her short range mobility. Ramona blocked the first strike with her remaining shield and grabbed Shizuka's other wrist with her free hand to stop the second.

Held tight by Ramona, Shizuka swung mercilessly with her free hand, but every blow was met by Ramona's shield as her palm began to glow brighter.

Shizuka saw Ramona look past her and in an instant knew what was about to happen. She tried to pull free but couldn't wrestle her way out of Ramona's iron grip. As the Dragon Turtle's shield came flying back, Shizuka spun trying to avoid it, but couldn't get enough distance while she was still trapped by Ramona. The returning shield slammed into her side, tearing her from Ramona's grasp and sending her crashing to the arena floor.

The Ninjutsu's shield dropped to 327/500. As a late third generation IS, the Ninjutsu didn't have the specs to match the Dragon Turtle, Shizuka couldn't afford to take another hit like that. The unit was based heavily around the concept the Rafale Revive used in the second generation, sacrificing advanced tech for battlefield options. As long as she could use them to avoid a direct attack, Shizuka was confident she could still win this fight.

Ramona dove down towards her trying to slam Shizuka with her shield. More smoke bombs detonated however and now unable to change her trajectory, Ramona only succeeded in burring her shield in the ground.

Shizuka used the opportunity to strike, having swapped her Kusarigama for a pair of Kunai. She quickly hit Ramona several times in the side before she was forced out of the smoke and got her shields up to block.

The Dragon Turtle's shield energy dropped to 397/600, but as the blows stopped, Ramona realized her special attacks were almost charged. She just had to hold on a little longer, then she'd be able to drop her squirmy opponent in one stroke.

As Shizuka gained some distance, Ramona readied herself for the next attack. She didn't have to wait long though, once Shizuka was far enough away six energy Chackrams appeared beside her and took off towards their target.

Shifting her shields to the exact right angles, Ramona calculated the trajectory of the incoming attacks and prepared to block appropriately. Five of the disks bounced harmlessly off her shields, but one changed its direction at the last moment, slipping past her guard and hitting her square in the chest. The impact sent Ramon a tumbling back through the air and dropped her shield energy to 242/600.

"Too slow Ramona!" Shizuka baited from across the arena.

Ramona looked at her gauntlet's charge, that last attack pushed them up to 100%. Time for some payback. "We'll see who's really too slow now!" she retorted as she extended her right arm.

Tendrils of energy shot out like lightning from the orb in her palm and reached Shizuka in a matter of moments. For a split second, Ramona thought she missed, but the energy tendrils latched tight to the Ninjutsu and dragged Shizuka back to her nearly as fast. "Now everyone will see where the Dragon part comes from!"

Ramona snapped up her left hand and a gout of flame poured forth from her palm and enveloped Shizuka. "Game, set, match." she announced triumphantly.

"Still too slow." Ramona heard the words a split second before Shizuka's Kusarigama's smashed into her back, sending her head over heels to the arena floor.

"What was that!" Laura exclaimed.

Charlotte grinned knowingly and Chifuyu took a moment to explain. "That's the Ninjutsu's one off ability, Doppelganger. It creates a hard light copy of itself at the same time as it bends light to make itself invisible for a few seconds. The copy takes the hit and Shizuka is free to strike back."

Ramona crashed hard, her shield energy dropping to 32/600. A target lock signal flashed up on her HUD and she spun her shield around to block. She was a fraction of a second too slow however and a pair of energy Shurikens hit her in the chest dropping her shield energy to zero and ending the match.

The crowd went wild as Miss Yamada announced "We have our tournament champion Shizuka Himegami!"

Shizuka flew down to where Ramona laid and offered her a hand up. Ramona took her best friend's hand with a smile "That was a neat trick, but I'll be ready for it next time."

With a slight tug, Shizuka pulled Ramona to her feet before removing her hood to reveal a pearly smile. "You should know by now that I'll always have a new trick up my sleeve."

Laura remained in her chair thinking, perhaps if Ramona were able to master he own one off ability she would have been able to take the match.

"Do you realize why she lost?" Chifuyu asked.

"Ja Mentor, Ramona lacking the ability to use her own one off ability put her at a disadvantage."

"That is true, however that was only part of it. I believe she still would have lost even if she had learned how to use the Cyclone."

"Then why?"

"When you looked back at all the matches they had fought so far, you saw the wrong things. While Ramona did win by a greater margin, she employed the same tactic in each match, defend until she had her Dragon's Tail and Dragon's Breath charged and use them in tandem to finish off her opponent. Shizuka however used different tactics in each match, making her less practised in each, but more versatile overall. When this match began she knew exactly what Ramona's strategy was and had a plan to counter it."

Laura thought about it for a few moments, it made sense. How had she not thought of that?

"You're still learning to be a teacher, but you did very well." Chifuyu noted. "In every match someone as to loose, they just out planned you this time."

"Your students sure are impressive." came a male voice from behind them.

Chifuyu stopped at the sound, it had been so long, how could he possibly be here after all these years?

Aaron leaned against the door of the viewing box with a soft smile of his face. "It's been a long time Chi, have you missed me?"

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed Chapter II. Writing an IS fight for the first time was a lot of fun, I didn't utilize the "gravity is not a factor" as much as I thought I would, but I plan to in the future. Still I hope it was an interesting fight and if anything was confusing, please let me know.<strong>

**Also, at the end of my last chapter, I said chapter III wouldn't be out until the second season of the dub came out and I could watch it; however chapter III turned out a fair bit longer than I expected it to and so it became two chapters. I now plan on having chapter III out in two weeks and the next chapter as soon as I finish the second season. Once that is out I plan on doing updates once every two weeks. **


	3. Chapter 3 The Warning

**Chapter III – Reunion:**

If Laura hadn't know Chifuyu as long as she had, she may have missed the brief flash of shock across her Mentor's face. There was something else too, fear perhaps? Laura had never seen Chifuyu afraid before so she didn't have a frame of reference to go by.

The man at the door had short black hair that was a little wavy in the front and dark brown eyes. He was slender but still had some muscle to him and sported a short goatee.

"Aaron... I... I thought you were dead?" Chifuyu asked still shaking off the surprise.

"Not quite, but I did get a little singed. It's good to see you again Chi."

He came across the room and for a moment it looked like two we going to hug. As Aaron leaned in however, Chifuyu grabbed his left arm, took his legs out from under him and flattened him face first on the floor in one swift motion. She stepped down hard on his back and pulled his arm back, nearly taking it out of it's socket.

"Ah, shit Chi! I'm hear to help, I swear to God I'm here to help!"

"You think you can just come waltzing back in here after the stunt you pulled? We though you died in that explosion and you just show up after a decade like nothing ever happened!"

Charlotte leaned over to whisper in Laura's ear. "Now I see where you learned your way with boys."

"Security!" Chifuyu shouted.

Arron moved his head the little bit that he could to get a good look at others. "Laura, Charlotte, you don't know me but you're all in grave danger. Please get her to let me explain, it's a matter of life and death."

The news stunned them both for a moment but Charlotte stepped up quickly. "Miss Orimura, if there really is a threat to us and this Academy shouldn't we at least hear him out?"

"Besides," Laura put in "if his information is unsatisfactory, you can always take his arm off then."

Chifuyu grumbled for a moment, but slowly released Aaron's arm and got off of him. Security came through the door a moment later but she waved them off.

Aaron slowly got to his feet, grasping tight to his left shoulder. "Damn Chi, I forgot how strong you are."

Chifuyu crossed her arms and glared daggers at Aaron. "You have thirty seconds to explain yourself before I toss your sorry ass off this island and let you swim home!"

"You expect me to sum up the last decade of my life in thirty seconds?"

"Twenty-five seconds."

"Okay, okay, uhhh, bottom line... There's a clandestine organization not allied with any government and they have been staling IS development data worldwide perhaps since the first companies started research so that they can build and IS army for what I can only assume is going to be something very unpleasant and they could be ready to launch an attack on the IS Academy at any moment." Aaron took a deep breath, recovering after the quick rant.

Everyone else in the room stood in shock for a moment. Chifuyu pushed past the surprise fastest though "We've dealt with groups like Phantom Task before, we can handle ourselves without your intervention."

"Please, Phantom Task? The group of power hungry misfits who don't know the meaning of the world subtle? No I mean a real secret organization that's building an army, not a few brats with a bone to pick with you."

Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose, a habit he'd had when frustrated for at least as long as Chifuyu had known him. "Look Chi, I know we've had our differences in the past but even though you disagree with what I did, you know I was only trying to do the right thing. I'm still trying to do the right thing, and this time we can be on the same side."

"It's Miss Orimura here," Chifuyu replied "but you have my attention. This better not be some kind of scheme."

Chifuyu tapped a button that controlled the loudspeakers. "Attention all students, due to unforeseen circumstances, the victory celebrations will be postponed and an immediate curfew will be in affect. Please return to your dorms, I will announce when the re-scheduling is complete. That is all."

"That you Ch... Miss Orimura."

"You better damn well hope this is worth my time. Dunois, Bodewig, since you've already heard this you're involved now. Conference room, fifteen minutes."

"Ch...augh, I mean Miss Orimura, don't try to contact Tabane or anyone else. They are monitoring all communications out of the island and they may strike right away if they know I've warned you."

"Fine, but only until I get a full explanation; then we'll see." Chifuyu motioned Laura and Charlotte over "Girls a moment please?" As they came over she shot a glare at Aaron.

"Seriously?"

Another glare.

"Augh, fine." He turned around and stuck his fingers in his ears. "La, ti, da, I'm not listening, I'm not listening..."

"Girls, I want you to keep a close eye on him while I go check on a few things. Keep him occupied, but most importantly, keep him away from any IS units or IS tech. Then meet me in the conference room in fifteen, got it."

"Yes ma'am." They replied in unison.

"Good, now get him out of my sight; I need a minute to think." As Chifuyu left that room, Arron was now humming to himself with his ears still plugged.

"He's supposed to be a threat?" Charlotte asked.

"He is more than he appears," Laura replied "I have never seen Mentor Orimura act this way before. Perhaps we can get her to tell us about their history later?"

"Or we could just ask him?" Charlotte tapped Aaron on the shoulder and he pulled his fingers out of his ears. "Would you care for a short walk, Miss Orimura had to go check on a few things."

"Yeah sure, I was actually hoping I'd get a chance to talk to you both."

Aaron headed out the door and down the hallways with Charlotte on his right and Laura on his left. It felt like they were escorting him rather than accompanying him, but that was to be expected.

"I've read both of your files and you have very impressive records. The Rosario Gospel incident was a particularly interesting read."

A brief moment of uncertainty flashed across both their faces. Aaron knew that the Gospel incident had been classified top secret and wanted them to realize just how much information he actually possessed. With any luck, it would make them a little more inclined to believe his warning.

"So why did to two people who could easily be competing on the world stage with their friends right now choose to become teachers at the IS Academy instead?"

"Mentor Orimura has done so much for me, I owe her more that I could possibly express. I hope to be that for someone one day."

"And you Charlotte?"

"Well, to be honest... I don't really have anywhere else to go. My papa was quite... unhappy when I was unable to be the person he wanted me to be. I don't have a place at the Dunois corporation anymore and since my mama died, the only people I care about are here; or will be back here soon. So I've stayed."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that the teachers here..." Aaron stopped talking as the two students he had witnessed competing in the arena earlier came jogging down the hall towards them.

"Miss Dunois," Shizuka asked "why did the tournament after party... get... cancelled... who's your cute new friend?"

Aaron bowed politely. "Aaron Harker ladies, pleasure to make your acquaintance. That was a heck of a show you two put on."

"Oh, he's nice too. Is he your boyfriend Teach; or is he up for grabs?"

Ramona smacked Shizuka upside the head. "Show more respect to your teachers and their guest." Ramona bowed on Shizuka's behalf "Please forgive her rudeness."

"I've got nearly a decade on you kid," Aaron laughed "not gunna happen."

"Well it's not like there are a lot of options around here." Shizuka whined "the closest thing I have to a relationship is when I can cuddle Ramona without her realizing it."

That earned her another smack upside the head.

"You two should get back to your dorm." Charlotte said "I promise that we will reschedule the after party, but it may take a few days."

"Fine, as long as you promise." Shizuka agreed.

"You should consider yourselves lucky, back in our day we never managed to finish a tournament without some kind of calamity happening... isn't that right Laura?"

Laura blushed slightly "Only one of those times was my fault and I apologized."

"I guess we'll see you later Teach."

The pair of them started off together talking quietly between themselves before Aaron called after them. "It's Ramona right?!" he asked.

She turned back around. "Yes, that's me."

"When you have multiple incoming vectors, you can calibrate your IS to monitor the direction of the drag on said vectors. When an object changes direction, the drag changes too, that way your IS can adjust your blocks without waiting for a visual confirmation, which is much more delayed."

Ramona paused and thought for a second before realizing that he was right. "Oh, yeah that makes sense... thank you."

"No problem, have a good evening ladies."

The two students sauntered off whispering rather loudly as Aaron turned to Laura. "Sorry if I stole your thunder a bit there. I know you're her teacher and all, I just noticed it during that match."

"That was good advice," Laura agreed "but I am curious as to how a man has such knowledge of the IS's capabilities."

"I was wondering that myself." Charlotte added crossing her arms and staring questioningly at Aaron.

"Well, I know all this stuff for the same reason that I know Chi; and the same reason that brought me all the way here. I helped Tabane design the first two IS units."

* * *

><p><strong>So that's Chapter 3, did anyone suspect Aaron's link to Tabane? I couldn't really hint at it much in only 3 chapters but I guess I want to know if it's flowing well so far.<strong>

**I did manage to wrangle Infinite Stratos 2 dubbed the other day so chapter 4 will be up on schedule in 2 weeks.**

**Also, for anyone wondering what is going on with Ichika and the rest of the gang, we will be getting to that in chapter 5. **

**Thanks for reading. :)**


	4. Chapter 4 Old Friends

**Chapter IV – Old Friends:**

"What!" was the only stunned response Laura and Charlotte could get out.

Aaron chuckled, it had been a long time since he had told anyone that little tidbit of information. "I met Tabane when I was living in Japan as a foreign exchange student. She's one of the only people I've ever met with an IQ higher than mine so we became fast friends. I thought that her dream of building the IS was amazing, and while she did do most of the work, I helped design the IS's logical data analysis language and adaptive interface and assistance drive. Basically to oversimplify, I taught the IS units how to learn; more-less."

Laura furrowed her brow as she processed everything Aaron was saying. "But if that is all true, then why did Mentor Orimura feel such hostility towards you?"

"Yeah about that... we sort of... had a falling out. We disagreed on how and why the IS should be used and even the vary manor of it's release. Tabane is a genius, but she gets carried away and often is too overconfident in her own superiority. Chifuyu sided with her best friend and we never saw each other again; until now."

"We should head over to the meeting room, but can you please tell us what happened on the way?" Charlotte asked. "What was that Miss Orimura said about an explosion?"

"Ugh, yeah... that. That's a rather long story and I don't have time to tell it now. Suffice to say that Chi and Tabs both thought I died and I decided to keep it that way due to our increasingly conflicting ideals about the IS."

Charlotte eyed Aaron curiously, he was hiding something for sure, but he had already offered up so much information she didn't see any reason to press him on it. Just pressing on him though, that might be another story... she shook her head clear the moment the thought crossed her mind. Ever since Ichika and Houki started officially dating she had been getting increasingly restless, but now was far from the time to deal with that.

Aaron was a few paces in front of them and didn't notice, but her best friend raised her eyebrow.

"Hey Laura," Aaron asked unintentionally diverting Laura's attention away from Charlotte. "The AIC you use in the Schwarzer Regen; did the German IS core ever try adapting it for full body defence?"

"Ja, it was a long project but it was eventually scrapped. The IS was able to generate the field successfully, but the entire unit had to be built around it leaving it without a weapon system. They tried hundreds of times to integrate a weapon but each time it only destabilized the AIC."

"I figured as much, a researcher I know was working on a project using AIC, but it seems the German Government was having the same issues he was. I was thinking of adapting the design though. If, or more likely when, there ever is a war with IS units, then keeping damaged or disabled pilots alive would be critical. What about using the AIC in a support capacity, for example to protect a medical IS or a rescue unit or some sort?"

"Hmm, that would make sense, but the governments are unlikely to fund such a project given it's limited application." Laura replied.

"Make no mistake ladies, an IS war is inevitable; it's just a matter of when and how devastating it will be. Wasn't it a German who once said... ahem... _Des Teufels liebstes Möbelstück ist die lange Bank." _

_"You speak German __well, __with a bit of an accent__.__" __Laura commented. Aaron didn't think it sounded like a compliment, more like a statement of fact. _

_"I speak a lot of languages, after I stopped working on the IS with Tab__s__, I had a lot of correspondence with many of the corporations dealing in IS research and development. It helped a lot if I could speak the language, so I picked up a few dozen."_

While Charlotte listened to them talk, she realized that Aaron was now at the front and they were following him. He seemed to know exactly where he was going too, perhaps he somehow gained access to a map of the Academy; then again if he was as well connected as he claimed it wouldn't be much of a stretch.

Aaron stopped in front of a thick oak door. "This is the staff board room right?"

Charlotte and Laura nodded in unison.

"Well, this is what I came all this way for; let's get to it."

Aaron pushed the door open to find a plain room with a large oak table that had some kind of projection system built into the middle of it. Chifuyu sat at the head of the table, to her right sat a green haired woman with large glasses and to her left was a tall and heavyset, but muscular woman with black hair and tanned skin.

"Ah, this must be your aid Maya Yamada, and your new head of security Carmen Ramirez." Aaron stated as he sat at the table opposite Chifuyu while Laura and Charlotte quietly took up seats beside him.

"You seem to know an awful lot about us and the Acadamy Mister Harker." Carmen noted behind crossed arms and a scowl.

"If there's one thing I've learned recently it's that if you want to keep bullets outside of your body, you know everything about a situation before walking into it." Aaron replied.

"And yet you can't seem to give us an accurate assessment of, or even if, there will in fact be any danger." Chifuyu noted.

Aaron took a deep breath as all the eyes in the room fixed on him. He knew they were going to gang up on him, but this was a little much. "Well at least I have your attention now and can start from the beginning and you can decide for yourselves what to believe."

"Twelve years ago after Tabane, Chifuyu, and I parted ways, I moved back to Canada to work on a way of making the IS usable by men as well."

"Did you succeed?" Carmen asked.

"Do you think I would have arrived on a boat if I had?"

"That wasn't a no."

"I'll get to that part of the story, just let me tell it;" Aaron retorted. "As I was saying: I spent a few years working on my own in secret, but as the technology became more accessible and more companies were engaging in IS R&D. I was able to get a job under an assumed name and quickly became the head of Starlight Tech's small male IS division."

"I know them," Charlotte pipped up, "they are a direct competitor with the Dunois corporation. I heard a few unsubstantiated rumours that they were trying to develop male IS tech as well, back when I could still keep tabs on such things."

"Well they weren't rumours, I was plugged in to almost every major IS research team worldwide. Because of the Alaska Treaty, IS data had to be shared so with the exception of the top secret stuff a lot of the labs kept in contact."

"Years went by and although progress was exceptionally slow, there was progress. We couldn't adapt the core directly as it simply wouldn't accept a male pilot, but system by system we were able to make modifications and adapt parts of an IS, not the entire unit. We made most of our progress within the last two years, but that's when things started getting strange."

"How so?" Maya asked.

"Reports started disappearing more frequently and shipments of tech were inexplicably lost in transit; not enough to raise serious red flags but enough that I began to suspect it might be intentional. There were a lot of dead ends, they covered their tracks very well but eventually I found this."

Arron slid a thumb drive into a port of the table and a holographic display of a seemingly mundane work order appeared.

"What exactly are we looking at?" Cifuyu asked.

"This is a requisition form for third generation IS joint components for one of our experiments. It looks normal to the naked eye and even to most high intensity scans. However my lab had one of the most advanced microscopic analysis tools in existence and I was able to find this:"

The hologram zoomed in to the bottom right hand corner of the page. It was a place where there was no text and looked completely blank. However as it kept zooming in and the individual fibres became visible, Chifuyu noticed a small speck on a few individual fibres. The hologram zoomed in on one even more; it was still hard to see even when the fibre seemed massive but there was certainly something there.

An image of a coiled serpent devouring it's tail flickered into existence beside the image of the fibre. "This is an even more enlarged version of the symbol," Aaron stated "and it has appeared on every shipment that has disappeared and none that have not. The symbol itself is impossible to detect unless you know what you're looking for, or in my case had an idea what to look for and were incredibly lucky."

"You came all this way with claims of a secret organization and all you have to go on is this symbol?" Chifuyu asked.

"Originally yes; I booked a long overdue vacation then grabbed all my notes and made for Japan. I had hoped that you would be able to get a message to Tabane that someone was stealing IS tech in the amounts that could be used to build several dozen IS units if they had cores to power them. However, there have been two attempts on my life on the way here. The first was a professional and I only survived on a fluke, the second was an unidentified IS unit but I managed to evade it by disabling it's sensor net. I'm sure you caught wind of the incident at Heathrow Airport three days ago."

"That unidentified IS that went wild on the tarmac?" Laura said.

"Cecilia found out about it before they classified the whole thing." Charlotte noted "The current speculation was that it was a prototype that was meant to have it's debut at the IS Championships in London."

"Well it wasn't;" Aaron corrected. "Heathrow was my layover point between Canada and here, the IS attacked me just before boarding, but I managed to short out it's control systems. After that it flew out of the airport and shot up the tarmac before overloading and making an escape. My plane was the last one to get out before they shut down the airport."

"So far your story makes me think that they are only after you," Chifuyu noted "why would they come here?"

"I don't think they know exactly how much I've figured out and want to eliminate me to be on the safe side. The fact that they sent an IS unit into a highly populated airport means that they aren't worried about secrecy anymore, which means they are nearly ready to strike. Your shipment of generation three security IS units arrives tomorrow evening; if I were going to attack the academy, I'd do it before then."

"Well it seems that we've got an easy ay to test your theory then, don't we." Chifuyu said. "You can stay here until the IS shipment arrives tomorrow and until then we will take every security precaution. If nothing happens and the delivery goes smoothly, I'll conclude that you are lying for some unknown reason and you will be forcibly detained. Is that understood?"

"Sounds fair to me." Aaron replied.

"Dunois, Bodewig, you will be Aaron's escort's and guards until I say otherwise. He is not to leave your side under any circumstance. Is that understood?!"

"Yes ma'am!" They replied in unison.

"Dismissed!"

As he and the girls walked out of the room, Aaron turned back to Chifuyu. "For once Chi, I sincerely hope I'm wrong." Even as he said the words though Aaron knew it was only wishful thinking. He wasn't wrong. Very soon, death would be coming to the IS academy.

* * *

><p><strong>For those of you not fluent in German, the phrase that Aaron says to Laura translates to "The devil's favourite piece of furniture is the long bench." In German, putting something in "The Long Bench" means to put it off or to procrastinate.<strong>

**Sorry for the delay in getting this Chapter up, the Christmas season has been super hectic. Next chapter we will touch base with Ichika and the others at the IS Championships. I was hoping to have it together for next weekend but I've got another project I need to work on as well, so expect the usual two week delay. **

**Also, in regards to my decision to put Ichika with Houki: I wanted to have this story as accurate as I could to what I think the future could be like for the Anime plot-line. While I personally think the Ichika and Charlotte have more chemistry (especially in season 1) the show seems to be going in a very Ichika/Houki direction as of the end of season 2; so that is how I decided I'd write his future. **

**As always, please feel free to**** leave any thoughts or constructive criticism. **


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